Saudi Electricity Company and GE sign MoU to further drive the digital transformation of the Kingdom’s power sector

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GE (NYSE: GE) at the second annual Saudi-US CEO Forum held under the theme, ‘An Era of Transformation: From Vision to Implementation’ and the patronage of the Crown Prince, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in New York. As per the MoU, SEC and GE intend to continue to work together towards accelerating the digital transformation of the Kingdom’s power sector, complementing the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The focus will be on enhancing the reliability, efficiency and performance of the Kingdom’s power sector through SEC’s Generation Optimization Center, which enables asset performance management at power plants through GE’s advanced digital industrial solutions. 

The MoU was signed in New York by Khaled Al Rashed, CEO of the Saudi Electricity Co. for Projects Development, a subsidiary of SEC, and Stephen McCallion, Government Affairs & Communications Leader, GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain on behalf of Hisham Al Bahkali, President & CEO for GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain. The signing was followed by a meeting in Riyadh among Ziyad Bin Mohammed Al Shiha, CEO of SEC; Russell Stokes, President & CEO of GE Power; Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE’s Power Services business in Africa, India and the Middle East; and other senior executives from both organizations to discuss areas for future collaboration and growth. 

Ziyad Al Shiha, CEO of SEC said,“Through the MoU with GE, we are building upon ongoing digital transformation initiatives launched by SEC and GE in the Kingdom to achieve higher levels of productivity in the power industry from the point of generation to transmission and distribution. This is critical as the power sector plays a central role in driving all-round progress, especially in supporting industrial activity and improving citizens’ quality of life in line with kingdom vision 2030.”

The GOC is connected to up to 25 power plants that generate more than 40 gigawatts (GW) of power. The Center obtains real time data on parameters such as fuel consumption, output and heat rate, allowing SEC to identify possible performance and reliability losses and providing real time visibility on the cost of electricity production for each power plant, enabling SEC to better operate the grid at the fleet level. SEC and GE launched an extensive capacity development program for over 50 SEC staff to train them on the digital transformation and help them run the Center.

GE’s Joseph Anis said,“SEC has always been a technology leader across the Middle East and an early adopter of new innovations. The progress made at the Generation Optimization Center and SEC’s plan to expand it further is a testament to their efforts to modernize the Kingdom’s power sector with the latest solutions. We look forward to collaborating with SEC in the coming years to help them continue on their digital transformation journey.” 

SEC and GE intend to implement digital industrial solutions at additional power plants across the Kingdom that generate up to 25 GW of electricityand put in place a joint team to drive greater reliability and performance at the sites. The solutions will also include state-of-the-art cyber security applications tailored for power plants. SEC is one of GE Power’s global fleet leaders and with the widespread adoption of GE’s digital industrial technology, SEC will be among the global leaders adopting GE’s digital industrial solutions for utilities.